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Enlt^ red uccor.iiii',' to Act of Con^ros, in [Iil- ji-iir li^5U, by I'arke tJoDwiN, in tin.- Ck-ik's office of Iht; Dislrict 
(_'oiirl of tlif SovUluTU Dislricl of New York. , 



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The follo-vviiig Tale waa Avritten originally for the Neio Yorh 
Evenhi<;i Po-st^ \mt lias since then Leen considerably modified 
and enlarged. It should perhaps he called an Extravaganza, 
as the writer had no purpose in it heyond a vague desire to 
glorify Ai*t-, hy investing the principal incidents in the career 
of a reigning musical celebrity with the strange but beautiful 
costume of the Northern ]\Iyth. The uuexjiected success 
with which it was received has induced him to put it mto this 
more permanent foiin. To his accomplished and generous 
friends, the Artists, Hicks, Rossiter, Walcutt and "Wliitley, 
to whom he is indebted foi' the original designs by which 
the Lext is illustrated, he must return his grateful thanks. 
Several most effective and spiiited di'a wings were received from 
Mr. Duggan, but greatly to the author's regret no wood-en- 
graver could be found to -cut them properly in time for this 
publication. For the same reason, an exquisite design by^Mr. 
Hicks, two sketches by Mr. Rossiter, and two smaller ones 
by Mr. Walcutt, are most reluctantly omitted. 



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HOHLAND. 

AR oif, tliei'e is a laud wlaere unbroken 
fields of snow streteli tliemselves drear- 
ily and witliout end, towards the icy 
2')ole. There, for two-thirds of the year, 
gloomy darkness reigns oppressively 
over tlie half-iijieued harvests, save 
^"^ when the p;de midnight sun casts its 
oblicpie rays into the pine forests, and illuminates them with 
streams of flowing silver. The sea T)reaks ui)OU the rocks of 
the sounding coasts, and avi'akens myriads of polar bii'ds, v,'\h> 
wheel and scream in the air like so many spirits haunting the 
desolate heights, M'hile the mists hanging ahout the cliffs, twisted 
into gigantic and fearful shapes, fill the mind Avith mysteri- 
ous a^ve. 

There too the ages of the Saga and the Heathen have left 
theu- stupendous traces. Every mountain, every vale, almost 
every ti'ee has its tradition of spectre and transformation, and 
even while one A\-alks the level fields, deep rumlding sounds tell 




«' 




of tlie great caldrons of the giants under the ground, and of 
far-stretching and brilliant grottoes where the elves have their 
haunts, and fiery gnomes forge terrible weapons of war. But it 
is not all cold and desolate in that distant northern land. — 
The sun, in the summer-time, warms the valleys and woods of 
the southern parts, into stimmer bloom ; the air grows soft and 
])almy ; the brooks are unlocked from their frozen sleep ; snug 
little farms get astir with the sounds of cattle and farmers afield ; 
and the heavy mosses which cling about the fir^, blush with rosy 
and purple wild flowers. 

But tlie days of the Idossoms are few and short, and the 
friendly rays darted l>y the shining southern skies, fly swiftly 
l)aek t(_) their more genial zone. Yet the people there, both 
south and north, have warm sunny hearts ; if nature repels 
them by her outward as[)ects, they find so much the more 
Avhat is beautiful and lovely within. The wild play of foncy, 
the glow of imagination, the fresh verduie of love, the melting- 
fire of affection, compensate them for the want of tro]ncal 
brilliancy and heat. That spiritual lieaiity which shines through 
the statues of Thorwaldsen, \\hieh Ave read in the poems of 
Tegnier, and tlie stories of Bremer and Andersen ; which is 
heard in the v.ild melodies of Ole Bull and Jenny Lind, and 
fills the mystic utterances of Swedenborg, is an everlasting 
guerdon of the wintry North. 

From that land, many long jears ago, the snoeker or cockle 
ui' ad\'enturous mariners put foith int<i measureless seas of ice, 
seeking for settlements in Greenland. The courageous youth, 
Bijorna, first ; afterwards Lief ; and still after him, Kalefne. — - 
Along the coast, between the cliils, ■winding through the hun- 
dred islands of the strand, like the sea-mews, they skimmed the 



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seas. Thi'i.ra^'h fuaming lireakers and tlirougli roaring storms 
tliey saik'd, ont-flyiiig tlie southwest wind, Imt at the.' unit-li 
longed for Greenland they did not stop. . - _^ 







They sought iu-te.ti] a \iuti-v distant land — a hmd whose 
shores, no longer nurtuiiiig the iee1>ei'gs, were white with silver 
sand, whose surface was overgrown ^itli wood, wliose days and 
nights were of almost ecpial Iciiglli, and where thoy ate the 
luscious grape and 3-ellow Indian corn under the nol^le Masur 
tree." Then on the Dightim rocks they carved in mysterious 
Ikunes the memorials of their l>rief sojourn, and went back to 
tlieir northi-rn Imme never again to return. Tliougli to them 
the (hmgcrs of the ocean \\ere a s]K>rt, and the rude M-liistlings 
of the t('m]Hv-ts music, and the mad lieavings of the sea a dance 
— they ni'Vcr more returned. Tliey went home, and liave slept 
louo- ei'as no-w T)eneath the snows. 



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• The <pii;r./il !u;iple. 







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LITTLE ?ALA 

ENTUEIES, we say, liacl fled, wLeii a de- 
scendant of that bold nortliern race, a little 
girl, was playing among tlie flowers of the 
forests that skirted tlie ancient capital of 
Manlieim.^-' She was blue-eyed and flaxen- 
haired, and skipi^ed along the ground with 
limbs as lithe and flexible as those of Kuluesach, the reindeer, 
when he flies across the frosts. She was playing in the forests, 
because she loved the deep cpiiet of the woods, where she could 
hear the winds whisper in the trees, the pleasant little crickets 
chirp, and the birds sing their delicious songs from the boughs. 
How often on the bright summer afternoons, had she sought 
the deep groves, where she had learned to know the name 
of every plant — the ladies' mantle, and the silver weed, and 
the A\ild strawberry- — and where she could talk with every 
bird, fr(jm the robin and starling to the linnet and the 
nightingale. 

On one of these occasions, when she had gone to wander 
through her favorite retreats, as she walked along, a subdued 
murmur of tiny voices sounded from the grass, the spires of 
which bent to each other as if to hold sweet converse. The 



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flowci's cxlialci] their riclirst odrirs ; tlie pui'jile rays of tlic set- l 
tiii^' sun fell upon tlie dai'k lir(.»\vii sliadows of tlie forests, y 
throwing; far into the dusky o-lades a goLlen Ijeain (jf li.u'lit, <=' t 
in \\]ii(di jnany-eohircd l)uttei'tii(.s and myriads (if spar]\ling' 
niotlis s])orted. Note upon note of cnchantiny rnelfxly tioatt'd 
upon the air; and a strange, half real, indf lieavcidy elation 
exeitcd her mind, and ga,ve a rpiirk s])rii)g to her steps. — 
ISlic r(:'ealled, as slie ^vl•nt, many a gay and grim legend of tlie 
mountains and ti<'lds; of the alfer who dwell in the middle of 
the oaks; of the dwarfs who shajie tlic tiashing d\Aarf erystals, 
and of the too fascinating Neekeii, whose irresistiMe songs 
aecompany the liuMding of the brooks. lirushing away tlie 
eai'ly dew, whieh fell in showers of diamonds from the Imshes 
of the wild rose, slie penetrated into the inm(_)st thicket of a 
glen, overhung Avith moss-grown trees, and surrounding a foun- 
tain — tlie fountain of Uller, as she called it, whose source was in 
the distant Kain \'alleys. 

There she took a seat upon a velvet rock, and liegan to call 
her favorite liirds, each 1)}' its (nvn gentle name, which she had 
given. The liiniet she had named Lofna, after her who had 
jjower to reconcile divide<l fi'iends ; and the nig-Iitingale she 
called Sioua, Ijecause she awakens the first sweet feelings in 
the breasts of youths and maidens; and the lark was styled 
Illyn, as she could sing away all the tears from the eyt's of 
the imtVn'tuinite. These and a th<iusard others, came flitting 
aliout her, hojtping nearer and nearer, and eyeing lier askance, 
until at last they timidly circled round her head, and co(piet- 
tishly played v\'ith her locks. While they M'ere thus engaged, 
she sung, in a voice sv,-eeter than their oami, tliose artless 
Words : — 



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Listen, sweet ii)iiistrels, eoiiie liillier to me, 
And carol your loves from thi^ Ijeceh-tiut tree; 
Tn drosses of russet and eriinson and wdiite, 
> Jl^ ' Whose eolurs wei'S dyeil in t lie d;iwii's {;olik'U light ; 

Come finclH's, come sjiarriiws, come seven-sleeps, come ! 
• ' Through the winding glades of your emerald home; • 

And pour on the tides of the tuneful breeze 
Rich guslies of many-voiced liamjonies, •'''■ •' 

To A\liirli all the feathered tril)e!^, ilittiiig th.wii from their 
secluded retreats or their lefty outlooks, quickly joined iu 
reply:— ^ . . ^ 

AA lio calls )is awav from nur silent repose 
"^ On the dew-spangled branch of the fragrant rose; 
The stalk of the nuillen, the curl of the virie ; 
Tlie soft silken lap of the wild cohnubine * 
'Tis Vala. the sibyl, the gay child of song, 
Who wanders the thickets and mosses among, 
To learn the sweet art that is hid in your throats, , 

Tl'.en \ ield her, ye warblers, your richest of notes. 

Scai'cely had the first troop of wood-choristers closed, when 
still others, trt)o])S upon troops, flocked around, and poured out 
tlieir hearts in mellifluent streams of song. 'Jlie woods rang, 
and re-echoed Avith the T)ewildering chorus. Vtila — for that, as 
the liirds liave already told our readers, was the name of the 
little gii-1 — listened to the infinite modulation, sound rising upon 
•■^ound, note intertwining with note, now distant, now near, now 
swelling like a gale, and now tinkling like the hell of the goat- 
herd on the Alpine peaks, till her whole lieing was liathed 
and !)orne upward liy the thousand-fold melodies. Ivever- 
eiitly, — absorbed, — in breathless awe and adoration, — she list- 
ene<l, till oN'ercome by her ecstasy she dissolved into tears. 
Then the liii'ds crowded more closely than ever about her; 
they watched her with their round bright eyes, hopping 
anxiously from sjii-ny to spray, as if they knew and sym])a- 
thized In her distress. Suddenly suspenduig their concert of 
sounds, wliicli thfv feaicd might have been too much for her, 



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tLey a])]>V()arlie(l lier one l)y one. ami ntteri'd tlicir clieerfullest 
consolations ; the thi'nsh whistled from tlic tliorn-lin>li ; the 
roliin eliirruped in the tir-tree ; tlic Hnnet e.-irolleil from the 
sprigs of the ash : while the lark iill(Ml the whule w.hmIs with 
profuse trills and outpoui'inys of uladncss. \n\:i lay for honrs 
in this swoon of ravishment and liHss; hnt wlnit her dreams 
A\'ere then, A\diither lu'r mind Avandcrcd, \\h;it iilorions scenes 
she saw, what sweet commnnion with the spirits of the lur.l- 
heavens she held, no one knows, and a spell was npou her that 
she slionld not tell. 




Shi' came graduallv to hri-clf, Imt the niglit in tlie mean thue 
had advanced, and warned her to retni'n to her home ; yet as 






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sLe walked silently l);K'k wliile tlie shadows were gatliei'ing fast 
over the lowly valleys, whei'e the eow-herds were calling the 
kuie tV(ini the hills, ;in<l hells tinkled from suiniiiit to summit, 
she sighed to herself: "Oh why was not I a liird, that I might 
fly away, Avlien dark ^\intel• comes, to those summer realms, 
where they sport and sing for ever!" Then a sweet, ringing 
Voice said to her fr<im the air, "Tliou shalt he a hird:" lait 
in her distraction she heard it not, and hurried on gloomily 
towards the cottage whei-e her parents dwelt. 

Again, as she approached the thicket which led to the cot- 
tage-gate, the same voice said, "Thou shalt he more than a bird !" 
Vala heard the words, and fell on her knees in agitation; hut 
the airy figure, trom which tliey preceded, vanished away on the 
instant. Bewildered and thoughtful, Vala entered the house. 



Ill 







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30HHGWS AND SAGAS, 



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HE (lark wiutcr soon caiiR', ami tlii.' I)ir<ls 
went away; Imt dur littlu Vala ilcw uut 
away -^Nitli the Lirds. On the contrary, du- 
rini;' the li)nc winter evenino's she sat lonely 
- ~-^''~ and dr(_>o|)iug by the lamLent fii'eside, yearn- 
^ --^ -s^^,.'; iiig ardently for the retnrn of the sjjrin^'. — 
Near the pine-torch on the table, sat the father, ruling the big 
copy-books to lie nsed l)y the children of the small sclux)! he 
tanght in the village. Ever and amm, he wonld Vntk u]) from 
his work, take a whift' from liis ])ainted tobacco pipe, and, 
casting a glance at the idle girl, mutter that she would nevei' 
earn her oatmeal, much less a corian<ler cake. Slie is more 
idle, he said, than tlu^ dogs who sleep in the jiastorV kitchen. 
Then, the mother — the excellent housewife — a.s she dip}ied the 
curdled milk into a p(_)t, with a huge silver spoon, in prepar;'. 
tion for the next day's moi'uing meal, would heave a sigh. — 
She too lamented the di'eamy idleness of the child, but, mother- 
like, thought that some good would yet couk/ out of it. The 
girl grew more sorrowful still, and the tears trickled down her 
cheeks. "Away with you to In^d," shouted the fa.tlu'r, «ho 
proj)osed reading a word or two out of Atterbom to himself, 



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and tliil not wish to l)e disturbed. Vala stole noiselessly to her 
room, and, as slie was accustomed to utter all her emotions in 
song, took a seat by the window, which she threw up, in spite 
of the cold, that she nii<j;-ht look at the pale moonli'jlit n^ it fell 
upon the red llr-cones, and suul:' : — 

'I'lie pallil nil 'I'll kccp-.'tli * - _ 

Her watch on tlm liills ; 
A thin fltaildw ciucpotb 
' O'er nicacji)\v3 ami ri 

'Hie cuttinf^ "wiml thu'^ctli 

Ouid dews (til tlie air ; 
Tlie nightiugale ^iiigcth 

Her Sling i;t'ilo?])ajr. 

Ah me now, wliat ailelii 

My son'owing heart. 
W}iich sorely bowaileth 

Sume utterlcss smart ? 
A wildercd train tliroiigelli 

My turbulent bn^in, 
' ■ Mv sdul wildlv li'iigetli. 

In intinite pain ! 




I'ut the good mother iVoui below, wlio heard lies' voice, and 
knew by the tone that il wa-; a ]ilaiiil <>!' di-'tre-s, ascended the 



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stairs soon after, and songlit to beguile the cliild of lier woe, 
1)y stories of the old Seandinavian past. She talked of Ah'ater, 
creator of gods and men, who held the least as well as the 
greatest in his complacent arms; of FrJia, the mild and Loun- 
teous, whose hjok was an eternal spring-, and avIio loved to hear 
the prayei's of mortals; of Balder the beantiful, l:)rilli;int as 
the white lily, — god of eloquence and just decision ; and of 
Bragur, who strikes the chords of tlie golden Telyn, while his 
wife, Iduua, keejis the a])]iles of inmiortal life. 

Itousiug her intei'est thus, the g<.iod mother wc>uld M'ander 
into the more fearful ov more fanta^tic traits of northern ni}"- 
thology. She W(ndd tell of Tlior, the thunderer, whiise hammer, 
struck along the skies, crushed thundei' out of ever}' olijcct; of 
Gerda, the daughter of the ice giant, whose shining Avhite arms, 
stretched out of the windows of the north, set the whole hea- 
vens al)laze with lights ; of Ileimdal, who guarded the seven- 
colored hridge to the skies, against the evil giants ; who could 
heai- the grass gi'ow and the wool o.n the liacks of land is ; and 
tinally of the fair sifters, the Xornas, who sit at the foot of tin- 
wondrous ash, Igdrasill, whose roots are deep down in the 
gloomy kingdoms of ILdj, l.ut A\diose top reaches to the high- 
est heaven. Thus the mysteries of life and death, and of" much 
that is after death, wei'e darkly shadowed lV>rth t(_> tlic I'hild, 
as they had Ijeen to the childhood of the nation, — to take in 
futui'e time a clearer signilicance. 

Yet mingled with these ohscurer ti'aditioiis were given liutli- 
from a better source — such as the immortal iiard of FritliiolfV 
Saga, chants to the " t'Liildivi: of (!;<■ Lord's Suj'pci'," wlicu lie 
tells them that 



f4 










" Ldve iri tlic r<n)t cf rrraiioii : (ii-d'.s L'ssence : W(,rlils without luuiibur 
Live, in liis botoiu like chililifii ; ho made tlieia fcir tlii-^ puipnse niily. 
Only to love ami be loved ; he breathed forth his spirit 
Into the shmiberinf; dust, and, upright standing', it laid its 
* * Hand on its heart, ami felt it was warm witli a liaine out of Heaven." 

Mucli more the good mother breathed over her chihl, and 
then repeated, in a tone half recitation and half song, to a wild 
northern air, this charm to rest : — . ► • 

Higli o'er the .simmiits 

Broods I'eace, 
«> ■ Among all tlie branches 

Thou seest 

Scarcely a breath ; ' . ' 

The birds are aslei'p in their uest ; 
Wait Ihee. now — Ihou to(i shalt rest, 

C'abidy as deafli. 

Under the influence of this the gentle Vala, composed, 
cheered and comforted, sank into a soft sleep, only to dream 
t)f Gladht'iiii, the pulace wf Joy, Jind Wingolf, where the peren- 
ni;il fnixntaius flo\v, *^ 




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tival tree 



THE CHANGEABLE LADY. 

PRINd came at last, and the suiii- 
raer, and witli tlic latter, the I^IId- 
summei'''s eve, a day jieculiai'ly dear 
til the n'ood j)e<)])le of tlie Nurthhnid. 
It was a day of merriment and hap- 
piness, when all classes, dressed in 
their holiday attii'e, might have lieen 
-"v! seen streaming towards thf high i'r^- 
Their liouses were decorated as for a fete. In the 
iutei'iors the lk>ors were strewn with fir-twigs, mingled with 
Wossoms and leaves of flowers ; while the ontsides wei'e hung 
with evera'reen bor.2:hs, and liranehes woven in interniinalile 
wreaths aronnd doorways and windows. 

In the centre of the village, the point to which all the va- 
rious groups were tending, they had planted tall trees, which, 
stripped of their liark, wei'e wrapped round wiili many colored 
strips of paper. A thousand nameless olgects dangled in the 
wind from their ontsti'ctcliing arms, empty egg-shells, which 
clattered as they swung, little flags waving merrily, clippings 
of papei-, wind-mills, dolls gi'avely treading the thin air, and 
all making sport for the youngsters, who gathered in mnlti- 
tudes below. There, too, on smaller poles were snsjH'nded 



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sweetmeats and playthings, to which the eager longing chil- 
di'en Lent their eyes, as the hapjiy groups in Germany do 
about the Chiistmas tree. 

Merrily the music sounded from the flute, the cithern and 
the harp; heartily the young men and the maidens whirled 
away in the waltz, which Schiller so beautifully compares to 
the winding dances of the stai's. The old women chattered 
and gossiped ; the old men laughed and sipped their home- 
brewed ale ; while the children, in the maddest mirth, gam- 
bolled and frolicked over the green grass of the plain. 




But the loudest in her mirth there, and the wildest in her 
lutics, was the little girl that had made so many fiieuds among 



II 



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the groves. She ran and leajied with the fastest, screamed 
with the loudest, danced with tlie gayest, and when the bois- 
terous sports wei'e done, she gathered the Httle circles round 
her, and suug with the sweetest grace, and at the same time 
the archest drollery, her Song of the Uirds. 

Come, cliildrcn, away, 
From the dauce aud play 
- To the groves ! 

Where tlie flowers are spriii^'in^j, " 

And the Uttle birds siiigiiii; 
» Of their hives. 

TraUa— tralla— hra, liiala ! '^ 

How tlic merry little rout 
Tiirough the branches flit about, 
Tralla, lirala ! 

Aud split their swellini^ tliroats 
With a rubadub of notes, 
Te wee, — ti^kadee — wobble — woljble — cha I 
Tralla, lira, lira, l:i — lirala ! 
Chirrup, chirrup — peewet — to whoo ! 

Chatter, wjiistle, warble, cuekoo ! ^ 

IIow the insects ijhtter, 
Aud the i^reeu hraves twitter, 
Tralla, hrala ! 
■ Wliile the starling, and the wren, and the liunet tiuLj, 
And the alfer daaoe iu the fairy riu;^, 
Come away ! — Come away ! 

As the echoes of her sprightly voice died off in the distance, 
the l)irds in the copse seemed to catch and prolong the strains, 
which they mingled with the vesper hymns they were then 
sending up, on the fragrance of flowers, int(j the evening 
glow. All the childi-en entranced, yet amazed and provoked 
to laughter ])y her imitations, broke simultaneously forth into 
clappings and shouts of applause. "Again, Vala," they cried, 
"again, Yuchla." "Thy voice is clearer than the Ijcll," said 
some; " brighter than the laikV, when, from the dewy dejrths 
of the sky, he heralds the morn," continued others ; " and 



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richer thau the nightingale's, from the darkling shadows of the 
woods, lamenting the thoi'n in her lireast," added a tliir<l i>arty. 
Then they all spontaneonsly liegan to <lance riiuiid and flap 
their hands, crying, " Yes, a nightingale — a nightingale — sing 
again, Vala, the nightingale." The elders, atti'acted liy the 
noise, came nearer and soon formed part of the group. 

Vala, nothing loth, bnt pleased with the pleasure she had 
given, remarked, with a charming simplicity,"! am so happy 
that I can sing." 

''Well yon may lie," said one of the more intelligent of the 
company, who, in common with the uthers, was delighted with 
her voice. ' ■ " ' 

"But who taught you to sing, dear child V 

" Nobody taught me, Lecanse I leai'ned it all in listening to 
the birds." 

" Then you can sing only what the l)irds sing V' 

" And a great deal more," she quickly responded ; " I can 
sing what the Alter sing, Avhen they dance on the green in the 
moonlight, and the song cif the Xecken who charm the maidens 
mto the sea. . ••. 

"Oh sing U-; the Alter dance," shouted some of the children, 
who seemed to lie more familiar witli her accomjiliNhmeuts in 
this line thau their elders. 

"No, no," cried others again, — "we have danced enough, 
let us have the sons; of the Neck !" 

"'Tis very beautiful," replied \'a]a, with a calm consciousness 
of liei- power. "Listen !" 

Then, resumiug her place in the midst of the group, she 
sunf;- . - 





#'-''aM?^^ - 



sei^ 




oS^l 



-«^ ; 






S till' la<t roil iihi-w «i twilis^lit 
Frll finiii tlio cluikeiiing skies, 

I sat 1)V till-' i'rim«iu ocean, 
Ami saw the gray mists rise. 

I saw the yoUuw fuam curling, 
From the billow's gentle swell, 

I hearil the mysterious music, 
Of the sea-snail's pearly shell. 

Out of till' wati'is, a maiden. 

Begirt with th.' green sea-grass, 
Ai-ose, with lier tresses (hi|i]iiiJg, 

And gazed in a silver glass. 

She Ltazed in lier silver mirror. 

And .she combed her golden hair, 
■While she sung the s<ing of the Nceken, 

To a «ild and woudrnus air. 

,She sung of her coral dwelling, 

III (Ik' ocean caves below; 
I f ll a resistless longing, 

flown ill th<ise realms to go. 

I felt (hat my feet were gliding. 
Along the sands erf the shore. 

I knew that niotlier and sillers. 
■Would tind me 011 earth no more. 



.4 






No l)iirst of appi'o1>ation followed this legeml, M'liicli was 
snug witli as weird and wondrous an air as it ascribed to the 
Neck: Imt the Avhole circle stood breathless, with their faces 
Maidv and their eyes staring, as if tliey had been smitten sud- 
denly with some great dread and sorrow. Tin.' girl too, over- 
come by the emotion of her own song, cast down her head. 
The blood had fled from her cheeks, her looks were wild, and 
she trembled in every limb. 

" 51rll giltt illl Ininilirl !" exclaimed a little La<ly who suddenly 
appeared in a brilliant dress of chaugealde satin, adorned with 
jewels and chains and ornaments of all kinds, and who, elliow- 
Ing her ^^'ay through the throng, was the iii'st to break the 
silence. "But can she always sing so?" she cried, and rushing 
towards the girl, caught her up in her ai'ms and gave her a 
thousand kisses. " Dearest angel, daughter of all the Litchelfs, 
canst thou sing more like that ?" 

" Oil yes, indeed," replied she, the solemn mysterious ex- 
pression still remaining on her features, "I can sing all the 
songs Odin taught Volthar, Avhen he hung him nine days in 
the wind. ])iei'ced by a sword. 'Twas on the tree whose root 
mortals dare not name. No king's daughter, no sou of man, 
can sing them, but they only whom the Aser love, who have 
drank of the honey dew, and I'ead the Runes. Nine songs I 
know," she continued in an elevated, inspired tone — " yes twelve, 
which Dain the Dwarf, and Asvid the giant, and Dwalaiu the 
elf, and Voluspa the prophetess, have heard, yet beside them 
no other. The first is for help in the time of need; the second 
ibi' nicdieine ; the third Idunts the swords of enemies; the 
fonrlli breaks the chaius of evil love; the ilfth dii'ects the flying 
ai'row ; the sixth charms away anger; the seventh put§ out the 



f^ 



flame of Ininimg liouses ; tlie eiglitli turns l)easts into iik^ii ; 
iho. ninth disarms tlio witcbes wlien tlicy fly tlirdugli the air ; 
the tentli stills the wimls ; the eleventh raises the dead ; and 
the twelfth awakens true maidens' love ! Ila ! ha ! ha !" 

Then the girl laughing strangely, ran away, calling hei' com- 
panions after her as she went. But the strange Lady followed 
at the toj") of hei' speed, shouting to the volant ti'oop to come 
back: " Vala, thou eldest-l)orn of Fi'iia, come hack. Vala — 
I will get tliee gold and silve)', and precious stones. Thy ]iath 
shall he strewn \\ith flowers, and the yi>ung men and the oLl 
men shall call thee blessed.'' 

After a while, Vala ran ]>ack, but now she remarked what 
she had not before noted, that this singular lady was not merely 
dressed in a species of changeal)le silk, as she had supjiosed, 
but that the dresses had the wonderful propei'ty of changing 
themselves as often as they pleased. Sometimes they were 
silk, fiut at other times they Axn^rc velvet, and gingham, and 
coarse linsey-woolsey ; and at othei-s again they wei'e mei'e 
tatters and rags. Vala was greatly surprised at this, and she 
looked at the straiige metamorjihosis those dresses were all the 
wdiile undergoing with utter Itewilderment and aA\e. 

But her astonishment rose to a higher j)!tcli, when she saw 
that the Lady herself as \vv\l as her dres.-cs, was ]iassing through 
an endless series of rapid and l)rilliant transformations. At 
one time she seemed to 1>e a queen, shining A\ith jewels ; at 
another, a village maiden with baskets of flowers; ami then a 
withered ]>eldame with distaff and S2)indle ; l:iut whether old 
or j'oung, a lieggar or an emj.u'ess, she yet, by ^ouic peculiar 
art, continued always to retain her own personal consciousness 
and life. Vala Avas so terrified when she beheld this per^ietual 



• • 



-* 



J 



liiR'tuatioii of (licsM and character, this nnencllng miracle of 
change, that she Avas fain to ]ia\e run away again. Surely, 
she thought, this nnwt lie some witch or child of the evil Loki, 
who can ]iut on what look she pleases. But an unaccountable 
charm resided in the CMiangeahle Ltidy, and Vala was drawn to 
her almost in spite of Inn-self. At last summoning all her 
coui'age, and muttering a ])o\\erful charm which she had 
leai'iied would keep away the Idack elves, she came near her 
and said : " Oh wondeiful wouian, who art thou f 

" Truly !" replied the sti'angei', " I am a mistress of the En- 
chanted Realm, which hangs lietweenthe heaven and the earth, 
where the S})irits of light and beauty have their home." 

" Is it in the world '.'' timidly asked Vala, pondering the 
ansM'er ju>t given. 

The C'hangealjle One re[)lied, " It is in the woi'ld, }'et al>ove 
it, — a kind of terrestrial-celestial Temjde of Delight, whose 
midnight is more gorgeous than its noon, and where the com- 
monest })eoj)le glitter in all the magnificence of kings and 
queens." 

" What a <lear delightful place it must 1)6 !" interrupted 
Vala, dancing about with excitement: but the Changeable 
Lady proceeded. 

" There dwell the heroes of all time, wdiose praises are 
struck on golden har])s liy the innnoital Bards, while the 
Valkyrias of poetry, music, dance, architecture, eloquence and 
action, ])resent their foaming cups (.>f delicious mead. There 
the wretched are made glad, the dull lively, the pi'osaic ideal, 
and the cenumonplace glorious. No kingdom on earth is so 
old; none will last so long; it began before Odin; it will out- 
live the gods. It is everj' where in time, and omnipresent in 



I 



8 



•t. 



^« 



v.«- 



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•I 



fe 






'!i5 



space ; and wlieu tlie wolf Fouris shall have swallowed the 
Past; the gay and beautiful ci'eaturcs of our world will still 
flourish and Lloom !" 

Vala, who had hung- with rapture upon this description of 
the new and l;)eautiful woi'ld, finding hei'self nioi'e and more 
attracted by some irresistible charm, sprang suddenly into the 
arms of the Lady, exchTiming, " Oh ! sweet lady, take m-;' there, 
dear lady, take me there ; 'tis of that world I have dreamed 
since I was a child. Where is it, and what is its name if" 

" Lichtalf heim, or the Home of the Bi'ight Spirits, it is called 
by the initiated, though vulgar mortals, in their profane speech, 
have named it the Theatre f resumed the lady. 

" The Theatre !" shrieked now the pious mother, wdio liad 
gradually drawn nearer to overhear the conversation in which 
her child was so strangely and passionately interested, " God in 
heaven protect us ! The Theatre ! 'tis the black home of Loki ! 
'Tis the lowest hall of Nifleheim, where the servients coil and 
hiss. Come hither, my child, and pray to lie forgiven for hav- 
ing thought of that wretched abomination." 

All the good people now rolled up their eyes in horror, and 
pointed their Angers at the Stranger, who had thus confessed 
her relation to a place which, in their minds, was associated 
with all that was bad. They might even have proceeded to 
the length of driving her, on that account, from their society, 
had not Vala, — so completely had she been seduced by the 
witchery of the Lady, — persuaded them to forl)car. 

"At any rate," they at last cried, "let us not leave the child 
in her wicked powei- ! Come, Vala, come away !" 




^^ss^^^js 




But the child did not go ; she clung 
to the Changeable Lady ; she insisted 
that she must see the new world ; she 
expostulated with her parents ; she 
x\ ept ; she stormed ; but in vain. — 
They would not yield, and in the end 
had to tear her away from the fasci- 
nating presence, and carry her l>y force 
to her home, where she threw herself 
in anguish upon her bed, and 
w(']it Inttei", scalding tears. 

Day after day she renewed 
her entreaties that she might be 
allowed to aro to that Enchant- 
ed Realm, and because she was 
refused by her pious fiiends, 
she moped and sorrowed more than ever. 

At last, after several months, when they found that she was 
pining aAvay, they consented, with sorrowing hearts, that she 
might pay a visit to those mysterious and magical Haunts, 
should the illustrious Changeling ever again be found. Scarce- 
ly had they spoken when she appeared. Again, they were 
reluctant ; but the teasing, importunate Vala prevailed, and 
finally set out. We will not describe her ardent joy, as she 
approached the sacred premises ; nor yet her infinite disap- 
pointment and sori'ow, ^\ hen she was told liy the Arch-magician 
thei'e, that long years of toil would be necessary to fit her for 
reception as one of the enchanted people. She was however 
iiiluiiiicd, that far away there lived a Song-Smith, a stei-n but 
p.)\\crful Kobold, who could alone prepare her to be initiated 
into the wonderful terrestrial-celestial arts and mysteries. 



'^ 



I, 



A 




I 






^f 




THE SONG-SMITH, 



ALA'S parents M-ere poor, and it was only 
with infinite difficulty, and at great sacri- 
fice, that they procured the means of send- 
ing her to the far-oif foi'ges (_)f the Song- 
Smith. But her hopes were bi'ight, and 
>>he consoled them in their soi'e need, with 
rainljow promises, that she would yet send 
them back mountains of gems. They smiled at her excited 
tancies, even in the l)itterness of their distress, and pai'ted from 
her with drooping eyes. 

She travelled over seas, over mountains, uvei' ]i]a!ii,->, over 
dales, and at last arrived at an immense and jiopulous city of 
the Gnomes, which glittered in the sunlight, with a thousand 
pinnacles and domes. She was without friends, and, save the 
poor herdsman, who had accompanied her as a guide to the 
walls of the metropolis, all alone; her soul sank witliin her as 
she saw the gay crowds pass l)y her in the thoroughfai-es. 
The gorgeous palaces of the Genii rose on all sides in over- 
powering splendor. Brilliant plates of glass covere<l their 
fronts ; ornaments of gold were wreathed al)out their high 
l)road doors ; tlieir colunms were made of marble and porj)liyry, 
and their interiors furnished with tlie richest silks, tapestries, 
and jiorcelain. 



- \ 



> 



V. 






4- 



f. 






^•t 



p% 



But, alas ! tliis magnifieence was not for Vala. She was 
doomed, as she well knew, like all those that would qualify 
themselves for admittance into the Enchanted Kealm, to work 
out her hard apprenticeship far away in the distant dens of the 
great city. There the dirty Gnomes and the black Alfei', hide- 
ous, begrimed and distorted, were manufacturing indescribable 
splendors, not for their own use, but foi* that of their more for- 
tunate brothers, who, by a freak of the Nomas not easily ex- 
jilained, had acquired an exclusive right to the enjoyment of all 
the glories of life. 

Vala made the best of her way thitlier, through long dark 
lanes, filled with foulness and reeking with corruption, and 
came to a dilaj^idated den, swarming with repulsive creatures, 
some I'ioting in drunkenness, others twisted into every variety 
of deformed shape, and all bearing unmistakable marks of 
pain, endurance, and haixl labor. There she saw that, while 
the greater part were engaged in producing new pleasures and 
splendors for their more fortunate brothers of the other end of 
the city, a few stood over the rest, with thongs and whips, to 
keep theui from touching a particle of what their own hands 
had thus made. Vala was too deeply moved by the sights she 
saw and the sounds she heard, — sights of suffering;' and soi'row, 
— sounds of war and discord, — to si^eculatc, even if she had 
been disposed, on this strange perplexity of condition. She 
ascended mournfully to the little cell which she had been com- 
pelled to select for her own occupancy, during the period of 
her preparatory discipline. 

Early the next morning after her arrival in the Gnome city, 
she arrayed herself in her tastiest garb, and set out for the 
workshop of the Song-Smith. lie lived, as she found, in a 



SIA^ 



^iC 




ft 



spacious liall, tliat Avas constructed entirely out of tlie lungs of 
mortals, save tliat the floors were made of l)ox-A\'0(id, the sleep- 
ers of brass, and the 1)eams of catgut. On the sides stood 
confused crowds of inanimate figures, most of them grotes(p;e 
and monstrous, bnt a few graceful and pleasing. They Avere, 
howcA^er, inanimate only Avhen left alone ; for if a stranger 
touched them, they gaA'e out the fearfullest sounds that AAere 
eA'er heard in the Avitches' ch(»rus on the Brocken — sighs, shrieks, 
gibbers, hisses, Avails, and roars. They Avould scream like an 
infant in agony ; they would IioavI like brutes in their rage; 
they Avould chatter like ghosts in the cold moonlight ; and they 
would groan, and whistle, aid ti'amp like hyenas in a avoocI. 
On the other hand, let a familiar ajjproach them, and suddenly 
their hideous screechings Avoidd change into ^Eolian harmonies, 
more sweet and fiiscinating than the mystic runes engraA'en on 
the tongue of the eloquent Bi-agur. 

As Vala entered, she trembled to her inmost nerA^es. She 
could hai'dly I'each the stand where the tall Song-Smith sat in 
the midst of the instruments of his trade. He Avas gloomy 
and dark, and his eyes shot forth a strange unhalloAved fire. 
"What do you want r he asked in a soft southern tongue, ])ut 
Avith a severe and I'epulsive accent. " I want to ]>q taught all 
the art and mvstery of song," Avas the modest half articulated 
reply. "Sit down then, and sing," rudely continued the Smith. 
Vala, almost sinking with agitation, essayed to sing an old 
rhyme about Sir ITJef and tlieEh-es; but she Avas too much 
frightened to get lieyond a single stave. The gloomy old Ko- 
bald frowned ! Then she jiartially recoA'ered herself, and sung 
in a Avihl nnjuotonous tone, what seemed jiartly a melody and 
})artl}' a chant. The ail', Ave venture to say, was one that the 




s^=£> 







old Song-Smitli, with all his experience, had never before heard, 
in all his born days. 




Sir Ulcf roso at tlie br(?ak of day, 
SadilU'il his stL'ud aud gallciped away ; 

Clattt'i'od tlu! hoofs the stubble among, 
Merrily cliirjiod tlie crickets aud siiuij. 

The Alfer daiMX"! in a forest ring 

Round the green tlu'one of the Erlen Iving. 

Ghttered the moon on tlie falling dew. 
The ravens croiik and the owls toO'-n-hoo ! 

The Erl King's daughter, who led the band. 
Reached Sir Ulef her lily-white hand. 

Mournfully sighed through the bushes and trees, 
Tlie nuiffled breath of the wailing breeze. 

" Come now, Sir- Ulef, and dance with me, 
A garment of silk will I give to thee." 




!■ 



'• I L-:iniWpt tarry. — I must iidt st:i\', • ■_ 

For iiHiriimg" will l)riiiii; iiiv briiial duy." 

*• A ^annrnt of silk so wliitt- and tine, 

My niiithur I)lraclied in tln^ palu niuunsliiiH'" 

" I cannot tan-y, — I must a^ay, 
For to-moiTow is my weddinij;-day.'" 

"A liousc of j^old so sliinlni,' and tall. 
Built ill the grottoes of lluliezthal." 

. "I cannot tairy, — I must away, • "-^ 

^ Or comes tliero to me uo wedcUiig-Jay." 

"■ Swi'ot kisses of Inve sliall lie fliy reward. 
If tlion"it but dauoe on tlu' Ijright L,neensward.'' 

. . ■ *" I cannot — mn~t not — I will not delay. 

For to-raon'ow is my bridal day." 

(■Jlitters tlie moon in the falling dew, 
Tlic raveus croak, and the owls too-wlioo. 

" Thou wilt not, Sir Ulef, dance with me i 
N<tr l.priile nor Ijridal-dav sjialt thou see." 

Fearfully flaslies the tiie of Iier eyes, 
Down siuks Sii' Ulef, never to rise. 

Sh Ulefs bride at her castle iloor. 
Waited, but tliitlier he never came more. 

The Song-Smith heard this si^g•uh^l* Ixillad with ill-coueealed 
impatience. " Hum !'' after a time, he said, the wihl fire radi- 
ating from his eyes, " what liarocpie and devilish stuft' is that '{ 
It will not do, you have no maimer, no style, no apIoi)iJ>^ no 
tout enMinhle^ — no, ah, — what do you call it, — l)ut yet you have 
a voice, — go home ! and come to me in three years, adieu !" 
Saying this, he l>owed her down stairs. 

Poor Vala ! The Peri driven from the gates of Paradise 
could not have been more sadly wounded and cast down, than 
she was when she heard this dread sentence, coming like a 
moan from the immeasurable voids. The sweet fancies of a 
life were turned into wormwood and gall. Her rainbows of 




f> 



'i)> 



ft 



Lope liad suddenly vanislied into thick night. A l)hick unut- 
terable despair covered the earth and the heavens. Her limbs 
scarcely bore her to her little dark cell, when she flung herself 
upon the bed and Mept aloud in all the desolation of an incon- 
solable anguish. But it was not for herself she wept ; she 
thought of hei" parents far a\\'ay, struggling wearily under the 
heavy load of poverty ; she thought of her brothers and sisters 
doomed to long lives of unrequited toil ; she thought of the 
blight that would fall upon all the fine hopes she had conceived 
from the promises of the Changeable Lady. 

" Oh," she said, " it would 1 )e so beautiful to sing, so beauti- 
ful to console the old and bowed down and broken hearts, so 
l)eautiful to scatter ti'easures among the poor, when I return 
among my good friends. Eut now I am forced down into the 
dark halls of Elidmir ; I Avalk alone through the pale realms 
of Hela, whose palace is Misery, whose table is Hungei', and 
whose servant, Delay ; Mitgard, the snake, encompasses me, 
and NidhoG'o'ur, the draijoii, will L>naw for ever at the roots of 
my joy. Indeed, indeed, I shall Hander, like Rail's daughter, 
the dolorous, with pale hair, from rock to rock, seeking warm 
hearts that I may clasji to my cold Ijosom." 

In the midst of her repinings, a canary who hung a prisoner 
at the casement, Avarl)led a farewell to the setting sun. She 
S2:)rang from her bed, took the bird and laid him close to her 
white breast. The sound had revived grateful reminiscences 
of the hours that she had foi'merly spent in the woods. Who, 
dearest Consoler, she said, taught thee to sing, who but the Al- 
fater of whom the good mother spoke ? Hast thou any Song- 
Smith ^ ha-^t thou then years of apprenticeship; hast thou the 
apluiuh and the tout ensemUc., and all the other horrible things ? 




'5| 



»> 



No ! no ! no ! Then she put aside the bird niid took up the 
cither, which was her constant companion, and sung parts of a 
rhyme, which she had once heard her mother sing, the music 
of which, perhaps, more than the words, was her inspii-ation. 
Perhaps, too, in the closing stanza she fancied there was some- 
thinar suited to her own condition. , 










ICHocrtle b ge 11 c^liinois 

A ci^tle wl 1 Ii St n 1 1 
I know it 1 1 ^ 1 f \vei» a 1 1 t iieU 

It's "at ■* anJ bile f stone 
* -v 

Homo of my t'lthor*; ! hnv ]>lainly 

I Jrcc thee now face to f ice. 
Yet tliou from the eaiUi ha-«t perithcci, 

The plough goes over the place. 

Be fruitful, I bless tliee, meadow, 
Too sad, yet pleasant to me. 

And I bless him doubly, who ever, 
May drive (he plough over thee. 

For me, I will fold up my feelings. 
Will take my harp 'U my hniid. 

And over tlie earili as I wnii ler 
Go singing fiom land to land. '^ ' 






■ -r r,:^-r^y 



'-■^S - L I Xf^ e^ ^^^^,^ 



-r^~-y^r^" ^,-'i^^^^~'-i^ 



~* 



The last verse was sung in a tone so plaintive, and yet so 
passionately sweet, that it iirrested one who was passing below 
in the street " Per dio^'' he said to himself, " but Dante's 
Beatrice never sang so divinely amid the choir of Paradise ? 
Who can it be ? I must see." He ascended to the room and 
entered. It was the Song-Smith himself — and the song he 
found, was one that had, years before, been made out of the 
incidents of his own early life.* He caught the girl in bis 
arms ; he smothered her with kisses ; he showered whole flower- 
baskets of praises on her ; in short, there was no bound to his 
enthusiasm. " Come," he said, " come learn with me ! I will 
teach thee all I know ; I will make thee the wonder of the world 
— a Mara — a Sontag — a Malibran." " No," answered the mo- 
dest maiden, who could not easily foiget the coldness of her 
fii'st i-eception, and the repugnance with which she had been 
inspired by her experience of the Gnome city ; " I hate your 
horrible Nifleheim, and I will never sing in it more." Then she 
tore herself petulantly away. 

She was as good as her word, and she never sang there, 
though the whole city afterwards oft'ered her all the silver, and 
gold, and precious gems in its palaces, to induce her to come. 

"■ We ratbcr suspect he stoic it from tlic father of Peter Schleniihl — See Notes. — Editor. 






w 




f 



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HOME OF THE WHITS EL?ES 






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UT in the inscrutable decrees of the Nomas, 
who sit at the pools of fate, poor Vala, de- 
sjiite her rejwgnauce and resentment, was 
destined to go through her wearisome l)ut 
'' fruitful years of discipline among the Gnomes. 
ijSfe They were years of toil, of pain, and of 
struggle to her — years when she had to battle incessantly and 
with stout heart against the Black Spirits, who malignantly 
sought to seduce her into their infernal ways. They plied 
hei- with the poison draughts of false praise, and drove her to 
madness with the ring and clatter of their foul discords. But 
she fought on I'esolutely to the end ; until one day, to her in- 
expressible delight, she was summoned to attend the mysterious 
ceremonies of that magical Litchtalf heim, or Home of the White 
Elves, for which she had so often yearned. 

Her way thither led through a dreary lawn ; no fresh dews 
fell upon the grass ; no golden l)earas from the sun bathed it ; 
and the perfume of flowers was changed into noxious exhala- 
tions. High walls, M'hose loopholes gleamed ever and anon 
with many-colored balefires, rose on every side of inextricable 
passages and lanes, soft with deluges of mud and rubbish. In 
the midst of all stood a dingy dome, sacred in the daylight to 




-♦ ■-. 




silence and rats ; but whose fontastic front in the evening was 
beleagured by eagei' crowds of people, some in rags, but mostly 
in jewelled dresses of ermine and silk. As she approached, 
a little boy with a link beckoned her to a small door in the 
rear, which she entered, and, threading her way up endless 
winding staircases and along dark corridors, she came full 
upon a great open space, which had the look of an immense 
gloomy cavern. Strong smells of burning sulphur aud fresh 
paint pufted out from its huge black jaws. 

Such another confused, wonderful cave of the Imps she had 
never seen. It seemed as if all the objects of creation had 
been taken apai't, and flung there into heaps. Faint lights 
flickered at intervals on the columns and walls, only serving 
to render the darkness more visible, and the forms more 
hideous and grotesque. In one place the trees stood on their 
tops ; great feudal castles projected down fi-om the midst of 
cities, hung like Fata Morgana in the air ; carriages rode on 
the roofs of Swiss huts ; aud the vast ocean wrapped itself 
round a piece of gilt furniture. In another place, periwigs, 
skullcaps and cofllns were irretrievably mingled with stew- 
pans and burnished armor. A motley crowd of all imagin- 
able personages moved busily through the openings — cardi- 
nals, kings, mermaids, ghosts, aud Jack Puddings ; gauze angels 
with little wings chatted with green snakes aud red salaman- 
ders ; fearful sepulchral figures were smoking pipes on the 
stufted bodies of elephants ; clowns twigged the nose of a 
sleeping Belshazzar ; and undressed children sat eating lolli- 
pops from the outstretched legs of monstrous nondescripts. 

Then, fi-ightful discordant noises arose — screaming and snor- 






*^ 






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in 



"• and wailiuir — as if all the taiinliar.-? of the tSunir-Sinith had 



madp thi-: +li"U' Waljinrr^'is I'endezvon-:. 



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Mlinop, scream, clatter, smash, •■ 

^ ft 

Kettles thunder, cymbals cla.sh ; 

Trumpet, flute, unci violin. 

Swell the preparation din ; 

Fiddles shriek, and oboes sigh, 

Bassoon.s echo fi'oni tlie sky. 

Small drums madly roar and biiiig, 

Viols sob and howl and twang, 

Demons all from lowest hell. 

Who toU theii' liend-world's dreadful knell. 



But scarcely had Vala time to note her own surprise, when 
a bell sounded like the silver hell of the Alfer, and all the 
parti-colored figures glided away to their deus ; the jar and 
tumult ceased ; the trees and houses and waterfalls I'ose into 
their natural positions, and a l)road flood of light poured sud- 
denly in on all sides, as from ten thousand stars. Then she 
felt that she was at last near what she had so long sighed for. 
A mighty presence, like some deep master-passion, hovered 
about her ; she inhaled a sweet inspiring atmosphere ; her 
liead swam with the vague dizziness of delight, and her whole 
being was roused into a ravishing strength and excitement. 
From the invisible depths there pealed into her inmost soul 
a sound more delicious than she had ever before heard. It 
was grave and awful, as the booming of the forest when it is 
swept by the winds, yet sweeter than the strains of the ^olian 
when the zephyrs linger upon its chords. It seemed to be a 
song preluding some mighty anthem, :tnd might have l^een 
called the song of the Sjjirit of llarnidny, the words of which, 
as near as they may be recalled, I'an in this wise : — 



The Spirit, I, whose mighty word, 
Fluttered the primal solitude. 

When Night, the ancient Mother heard. 
And scattered all her dusky brooiL 




N 



n 



.-^i^ 



t 









S3' 



if 



;• 



Till' blf;ir-oyi'cl Aiiarclis fl|.(l alar, 

Tlmiuj^li fnist and bli^'lit aial I'Mniili'ss .<pac;c, 
Ainiil a loud diM-nrdaiit jar 

Of plaiii'ts wliriliiig til Ihcir place. 

Trii tliimsaiul tlaiiisand sparkling zuiK'S, 

All green with fields and bright with ti.pwers, 

Went winding in etliei-eal tones, 
The circle of the winged hours. 

And Music wamlered from her cells. 
In piny groves and nunmtain-caves ; 

Breathed in the ear of (.ceaii-shells. 
The soft low nuu'nuir (if the waves. 

Chirru]ied witli crickets in their nook's. 

And lunnnied with liees iuiil lowed with herds ; 

And leaped and lauglierl with gurgling brooks. 
And carulleil with the glee-oine birds. 

Awokt- all primal mehidies, 

Whii'h warp ami warlile "U the v\iiid ; 
"With tempests swept the wofiils and seas. 

And thrilled the hearts of human kind. 

For all arc- echoes ot' my \'nice 

Thjit rings hainionious through the whole, 
In which the tuiy motes rejoice. 

And Sims go sounding as they roll. 



When the stiuiid of thi^^ ulnriniis sti'aiu had ceased and died 
awfully away, like the expiring tones of an oigaii, ^"ala i-aisetl 
her eyes, and found herself in a inimient, liy some unaeeianit- 
a1»le and poweiful enchantment, back into the early ages of 
Gaul. The sacred oaks of the Druids rose gloomily with tlieir 
dee]) sliadows artiiind hei' ; the altar of sacriKci.^ l)uriietl in tlie 
woods; the ci'e.scent moon hung in the dark l)lue skies; a 
mystic wi'eath was on her I»row ; and lier Losom swelled and 
palpittiteil with the fiercest contending im]»ulses and i)assions. 
She had lieen transfoi'med liy the solemn charm into a priestess 
and a mother. A Roman genei'al had won her most passionate 
love; he had left her, tlie l>ase one, for anotlier, and now the 



Jt 



)' 




•♦•» 




fierce warriors and gloomy vengeful elders demanded his life 
at lier hands. Oh ! then how love and wratii, and superstition 
and pride battled in her pent heart ! How she plead with 
him in tones so sweet that they might have charmed the 
evil spirit out of Loki ; how she threatened him as in the 
harsh roll of gongs ! In the yearnings of an infinite despair 
she raised the knife over her sleeping children ; in the j^rompt- 
ing of as infinite a love, gave herself, for their sakes, to the 
flames. W^ith what proud dignity, with wiiat lieart-wringing 
pathos, with what natural sweetness and tenderness, Vvith i\liat 
wild fire and fearful energy, she went through the vaiying 
phases of her new life, who shall descril)e ''i And when in that 
final agony of love and selt-sacrrfice, she fell in the dread 
temple of Irmiusul, it seemed as if a tempest had dragged the 
sphered moon from its sky. She fell, appai'ently never to 



rise again. 



But suddenly a roar like the crashing of Thor's hammer, 
and lightning flashes from ten thousand eyes, restored her to 
her own natural consciousness. She arose from the funeral 
pile, — pale, trembling, timid ; a myriad of upturned delighted 
faces greeted her from the air ; at each step her feet pressed 
innumerable wreaths and clusters C)f flowers from the solid 
earth ; jewelled hands waved her the warmest greetings of 
ducal and royal hearts ; a soft shower of golden rain enveloped 
her ; and multitudes of voices on the breath of kisses, pro- 
claimed that henceforth and for ever her name should be 
written in the Immi«ital Runes. Tlieu, a stream of happiness 
poured into her soul such as mortal had never known, — such 
as the dwellei's in Asgard only feel when they ride with the 
heroes on the ])laiiis of Ida. 






- v^^ . j — -r ^>- ^ 



3C 




.'HE BHAGOH SHI? ELLIS' A. 



••• (. 



« 




NCE immersed iu tlie witch element 
of tke Encliaiited Realm, Vala soou 
liecaiue its mistress, the bewitehingest 
of its many witches and fays. Her 
charms were more ])owerful and seduc- 
tive than all that is told (if magic in the 
eastern fa1)le of Scheherazade, or the 
northern sagas of Arne Magniisen. The power and rai>iility 
of her transformations surj^assed those even of the Changealjle 
Lady, who had 1 jeen the cause of so much early wonder. At 
one time, a simple, tender, devoted ])easant, she subverts the 
wiles of the ftimous devil of Normandy : then an oi'phan 
and suljtler girl, she entrances the great army of the Tyrol ; 
again she s])orts witli Puck and Aiitd and Eobin Goodfel- 
low ; and anon she raises the buried nations of Asia from their 
toml)S. Wherever she waves her war.d and speaks the magic 
words, new glories and splendors spiing from the clouds. She 
travels over the whole of one quni-ter of the glolie, and is 
ever)'where welcomed as the cynosure and great Northern 
Star. All eyes are directed towards lier movements ; all Iiands 
are i-aised in plamlits of her sung : and all lu-arts grow bettc i- 






-^^ -r. '- -•- ::^^,j 



^^ 



at her iqiproacb. iShe, tot), is delighted l>y the consciousness 
that she possesses so imu-h ahility to give pleasure to others; 
but slie is not elated into any insane joy. Nor amid the ova- 
tions of pei'p(^tual applause does she forget the good old pa- 
rents who listen ■nith overfull hearts to the stories of her suc- 
cess ; but she sends l)ack to their distant home those mountains 
of gems which in her earlier aspirations she had promised. 
Iler poor neighboi-s, too, are made glad b)^ the profnsion with 
wdiich she scattei-s jewels and treasures into their laps. She 
heals the wounds of their poverty with the precious salve of 
abundance, and p)ours the balm of consolation into their stricken 
souls. 

But now in the midst of her tiiumjihs, the old scenes of her 
incantations find her no more ; she disappears — and her wor- 
shi])pers are inconsolable for her loss. She is out upon the 
seas which roll her to some distant land. The angi'y aegers 
of the tempest flap their pursuing winds liehind her ; the 
hundred-footed trolls lash the waters into fury with tlieir 
twisted and scaly tails ; huge sea-crabs and walruses lift the 
seething billows upon their backs, and dash them down again 
fearfully into the l>rinydeep; but what recks the courageous 
Vala ! lla ! Ila ! Her dragon-ship Ellida, — whose iron jaws 
eat living coals, and whose lungs emit red-hot smoke ; whose 
broad white wings sweep the clouds from the sky ; and whose 
feet are swift revolving wheels, — walks fearlessly over the 
backs of all the monsters of the deep. In vain they breathe 
their rage, and weave their spells ; she flies a race with the 
tempest and leaves the sea-gulls behind. Ha! Ila! 

Vala, who stands unmoved and serene upon the deck, shin- 
ing like a star thi-ough rilts of clouds, I'ecalls and sings passages 



•' • 






;=d^^^-^=:=r=i:~ 



If 



fixmi the words (if the cxccilciit Tci^iifr, v, lici(> he dcpitts li!s 
nuMe lu'V" Fi-'itliiof" at ye;i- 



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k) 



"IIc'lg<5 i-u ilie slran.l, 
Cli^m'.s liis \viz:U(J sp.li, 
Poteiil. to CfuniniiD'l 
Fifii 1^ i;f (.Miili an.l licll. 
Gadic'iing il;irl;ni>s s-lirouds tlu- sliy, 
H:irk tliL' tlum loi's distau; loU, 
I.r.ii.i li!;htiim;;s a? Ilicy fiy. 
Streak witli blood ilic salilo pole. 
Ocean boiliiiii; to its ba.-e 
Scatiors ^\'iik' i"s wave of foam, 
Stivaniing a>^ in fleetest cliaso, 
8ea l.irU .s(.-ek ilirir i^hni 1 homo 



111 

i 



I 
I 
I 



I 



t>cepcr aii'J more oft. 
Yawns the gnlf of death, 
Ihere is whistling aloft, 
There is cratkliiig beneath- 
Yet amidst the ^^ar of \\;ive'^. 
Now pmv-uing, now opposed, 
Shock and blast l-lli la braves, 
Gods her scamL'-s fabric closed ; 
As a mrtecv's sendding light 
Scoots atliwurt the ftidiing deep, 
As a chamois launched in Higlit, 
BtraiT-ds o'er cataract anl steep. * 



The beautiful soft tones of licr voice, floatini;- like a spell 
over the heaving seas, seemed to charm them into silence and 
rest. The I'raiitic riot of the clenii'iit^ was at once snbdned, 
and the great ugly monsters sunk sullenly back into their 
slimy beds. 

Thus the brave Ellida glid<>d, like the phantom-ship of the 
ilying Dutchman, towards the setting sun ; and soon Vala saw 
a new Earth arise out of the opening fogs, gigantic in its gi-an- 
(lenr, and resplendent with the beauty of groves. It sti-ctched 



h 

V 
ill 




>• 4 



V 




from the vast dark oceau, to wliere its Louuds were lost in the 
golden mists of evening. On the north, rose lofty palatial 
structures, thousands of miles in breadth, which shone like 
crystals in the sun; to the south, waved tr()])iL'al foi'ests and 
palm groves, where birds of exquisite and gorgeous plumage 
flitted, and awful mountains, covered with stately ])ines, were 
upheaved to the everlasting snows. Fields luxuriant with 
corn that might have filled the granaries of empires ; orchards 
red and purple with the I'ichest fruits ; magnificent cities busy 
with trade and bursting with vast accumulations of wealth ; 
pleasant villages sequestered in the Ijlue shade of the hills, 
wliere the bells of cows and the songs of the laborei's were 
heard ; cataracts thundering from their stee])s ; an incompres- 
sil)le activity of life ; a prodigious greatness of structure; a 
rushinjir sound as of multitudes advancinc: thev knew not 
whither ; ten thousand nameless signs and agencies of some 
new work begun, some fresh Creation heaving out of chaos — 
all these things, so new, so sti'ange, so grand, bewildered and 
oppressed Yala with a profusion and weight of emotions that 
she had never before felt. "This is, indeed, a new Earth," she 
exclaimed, " whose inhaljitants fly through measureless spaces 
on the backs (jf flame-breathing griffbns, and talk to each other 
ti\)m the distant extremities of their globe in the tongue of 
the lii^htnings." 

As she approached the shore, there was heard behind her 
a roaring and a clamor as of ghouls mingled with hissings and 
wild sobs. A fearful quaking came over her that seemed bode- 
I'ul of the crash of worlds. Then a Voice said, " Behind you is 
the Past — look !" And she looked and sa^v a vast black cloud 
drawn over the east far back, in the dim vistas, deep down in 



4U 



-,*• 



V 



•■ «. 




the dread abysses, of its many foldings, dii- ^ 
bious pliantoms and specti es v, andei ed and |^^ 
vanished. Foul Faiths and Blood) Kites, %'S^ 
and Lies, and Oppiessions, and the agonies sC. 
of Battle, all monstious and oj>})itssi\e 
Things, flapping their heavj^ w ings, like vul- 
tures in a vain sti nggle |^i 
"" affainst a stoiiu, \\tie 




* J" 




GIMLE; OH THE GOLDS 



WHEN Vala had stepiietl lier foot upon the new Earth, 
she received into her being, with the perfume of the 
balmy atmosphere, a sense of indesci'il)able peace and 
joy ; all diseases seemed to have fallen from her limbs, and 
all sorrows from her mind. She would have rushed to join the 
multiplying groups of happy and free people that sprang up on 
every hand ; but she was arrested by the approach of number- 
less men and women, dressed in garlands, and with their faces 
wreathed in smiles of joy, who came forward to bid her a 
hearty welcome. At first a liand of sportive children, to w^hom 
her name was as familiar as that of an intimate friend, hold- 
ing vessels of sweetest incense in their hands, and bearing 
on their arms baskets of roses, which they flung from time to 
time at her feet, stepped in advance of the rest, singing as they 
advanced: - ■ 



Lo ! how quiet lies the oceaii. 
Like a mirror calm and fair. 
Not a zephyr's softest motion 
Stirs the waves of purple air. 

Seas, and storms, it gave them pleasura 
To have borne thee on their breast. 
Well they knew tlie precious treasure 
Which they freighted to the West. 



1-! 




-j&< 






'III 



Tlieu a chorus of beautiful women took uj^ aud prolonged 
the strain : — 

Welcome "S'ula, Nurlaiiil's (l;iughter, 

To our deepest, warmest heart. 
Sweet cachaatress of the soiiLj-worU, 
* Mistress of the rualnis <»f Art. 

AVe the cliiMveii of tliat ViiilaiKl, 

Wliidi tliy fatliers soiiijlit of vure, 
From its seaboard to its inland, 

Bid tliee welcome to o;u' shore. 

These were again sustained l)y an advancing company of 
young men, who added : — 

Beauty's blue-eyed Sa^a-teller, 

We liave known and loved thee well ; 
Rapture-bring-er, woe-dispeller, 

Empress ojf the magic spelL 
Singer iif the mystic stories. 

Born amid the snowy North ; 
Poui' tliy rich melodious glories, 

In ecstatic rajjture fortli. 

When finally the whole asseml 'led host, uniting their several 
strains, uttered their gratulations in this wise : — 

Piscord-queller, 
Woe-dispeller, 
, .,; Song-Queen of the mystic North ; 

S;iga-singer, 
"^ Ilapture-ljriugcr, 

Pure in heart and ricli in worth. 

Yala, when the whole asseml^lage had re^ieated this wel- 
come, aud as soon as she could recover from the surjjrise and 
delight with which she was overcome by the new and vai'ied 
ol:)jects around her, responded in a song of greeting, in which 
certain well-known names wei'e strangely mingled with words 
of enthusiastic compliment. 

Hail, Vinland, hail, — green land of leaves. 

Of lakes like seas and boundless woods, 
Wliose mighty King of streams receives 

Tlie tribute of ten thousand floods. 
Two oceans guard thy liroad domain. 

All climates bless thy varied year, 
Tiiy fields g-o waving wliite with grain, 

Tliy garners swell with ruddv cheer. 



43 




Thou'rt ycmiitjer from tli\ Jtakrr's liaiuls, 

Of fri'sluT streiitctli, ami iiuliler mind, 
lliau those nutwoni and wasU'd laiida 

My flying feet have left behind ! 
For they are of the Past ; — but thou 

Unstained by crime, unbowed by fears, 
Stand'st tiptoe on the Future's brow, 

And filTst tlie hope of coming years. 

From wild New En^;land's stormy coasts, 

To California's j^olden gates, 
Thy chiklren spread in restless hosts, 

A circling brotherhood of States ; 
Across tliy vast imlorded plains, 

Freedom shall build the world its home. 
The Arts shall rear their fairest fanes, 

Religion raise her noblest domes. 



Scarcely had the last cadences of Vala's exquisite voice 
melted a-^vay into the distance, when all the gay forms about 
her appeared to vanish, and the same mysterious Voice which 
had so often sounded to her from the air, said,^ — " Before you 
is that Future — look." She turned, and instantly grew dizzy 
with an intolerable splendor. It seemed as if seven suns were 
blazing at once from a firmament of sapphire and garnet ; yet, 
as her eyes expanded to the light, she saw through a soft ])iir- 
])le haze interminable plains profusely decked with the most 
odoriferous plants. Never before had it entered into her hcai't 
to conceive that the Earth could l)e so gloriously transformed. 
Bright-colored birds and butterflies were flying in and out of 
the branches of gigantic but graceful trees, under which l>eau- 
tiful wild animals basked in harmony ; countless children 
sported on velvet lawns, and amid dewy underwoods, \\ hioh 
passing streams reflected in various brilliancy ; Mhile the forms 
of iKible wi)meii, of heroic men — ministered to by innumeralde 
gracious spirits, who laughed from the rose-buds and danced in 



44 



• * 






-::i 




=^«E^7^r:=^^H 



■I 



111 J 

-I 



But she had ndt time to satiate Iicr eyes with these beauti- 
ful sights, before other prospects opened aud revealed to her 
new splendors of appearance, and new wonders and delights 
of life. She saw landscapes of entrancing beauty; she heard 
sounds (if heavenly rapture ; while innumerable societies of 
human beings, each complete and perfect in itself, yet circling 
about and interwoven with the rest, revolved in a kind of inex- 
tricable harmony, like the myriads of effulgent stars which I'oll 
in unison through the skies. In the midst of all rose a central 
far-shining Palace, which seemed more magnificent than the 
fabled abodes of the oriental genii. As she gazed, the intoxi- 
cated girl whispered to herself, "this must be the much-famed 
Brimer, region of blessedness and undying growth, which is to 
succeed the twilight of the gods, when the Gjaller horn shall 
sound, and the old world fall into destruction and decay. 
This, the new Heaven and the new Earth, but dimly typified 
in the Home of the White Elves, — and which Voluspa, the 
])ro]ihetess, foretells, — when the Dwarfs and Giants shall have 
fled, when the Dragons shall die, when the Aser and the Alfer 
are no more, and the wise and the true and the good of all 
lands and times shall reassemljle on Ida, whose pastures shall 
yield spontaneous jilenty, while Balder the Beautiful reigns 
for ever." But while she was revolving these vague but impres- 
sive prophecies from the Past, the whole atmosphere became 
suddenly aglow, and across the heavens were written in mystic 
fire chai'acters, as she was herself wafted beyond the reach of 
mortal eyes, those words, so full of llo-pe and Peace, even to 
us, dear Readers : 



E PLUEIBUS UNU 




. » 




• < 



m f'lwr ^ 



^ ! 






i^mf^ 



Tfs^-^-^. 




* • 



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« « 




^ No. 1. - - 

Von Chamisso is the author orth(i song of wliii'h Vala sings a fi^w verses on page 
33. The whole of it is so bi-aulirul, even in a transhition, t1ial wcsnfijoiii it. We sus- 
]iect that if tin.' \viii'il-rut hail lircn hn-go eiiinigh, Vala would have sang the wliole ; 
but as she did not, wr f;i\r it to tin- n ad-.'i- Ih.-if : ■— ^ 

III dreams I tjo buck to cliililhiiu.l, 

I slinke tlio years from mv lir:id ; A 

How tlic imns'es draw me Inmiewanl, 

Wliieh I llioiiglit so lung since (le.arl. 

, lihj;h o'er the unihr.'igij there glinnuers 

A e:i-l]e wlii''h stnnds alone, 
I know i!s liro;i.l towers ;md turret?, . . * 

Its gates and Ijriilges of stoue. 

From rusty annorialbearings, - , * * , 

:. 1 The lions look frienilly and true, ^ •• < 

^ greet the famihar old olijeets. 
•» jis 1 lia^ten (lie eourtyiu'd throiinli. . _ ©^ < 

• ■ There hes die Spliynx, at the fountain. • 

Ami there the gray tig tree gleams, 
There 111 die shade of the casement, 
I dream my earliest dieaiiis. 

I walk in llie silent chapel, 

I seek iiiv anei'^tor's gr.ive, 
There i-'t ; and there, from tlie piilars, 

Hangs Ihp old lielniet and ghuve. 

My eyes, through tlieir mists see legends, 

En* all. can read them no nior.', 
Tho' clear Ironi ih" painted window, 
■,-," The light fills broad on the lloor. »•* 

Home of my lathers ! how plainly ' 

I see thee now face to hire. 
Yet thou from the earth hast pia-ished. 

The plough goes over the place. ., " 

Be fruitful, 1 bless thee, mea.low I 
^ ^^ So sad, yet pleasant to me, • m 

And 1 bless him doubly, who ever, 
■,*" Jhiy drive (he plough over dice. 

For me. 1 will fold up my feelings, 
"Will I.iki' mv harp in mv Innil, 
And ovi r the earlh as I wander 



• • 




% 

V 



•• 




No. 2. 

As tlie Jfytholocjy of tlif Northern Nations, whicli the author has, used is less 
generally linown than the classic Mythology of the Ancients, it may be convenient 
to some of our readei's to present an outline of the leading features of the Scandina- 
vian ^1)^11. We condense therefore the following partieulare from Cri.'htou's "His- 
tory of Denmark Sweden and Norway," pnljli.-hed by Harper & Brothers. 



It is from the mystic song or dialogue of Volu?pa, that wo derive orn- informa- 
ti<)n of the cosmogony and sacred mythology of the North. AYe there read that 
in the beginning a vast chaos i-eigned over the uni\erse ; there was neither heaven 
nof earth, but only the bottomless abyss of Ginnungagap, and the two regions of 
Nifelheim and Muspelhcim ; the latter the abode of Hre, where Surtur ruled; the 
other containing the well of Ilvergelmer, whence issued twelve jioisBnous streams 
(Ellivagar,) which generated ice, snow, wind, and rain. From the connexion of 
heat and moisture proceeded drops, and lu-nee was produced the giant Ymer, with 
his brethren the Eimthursar, the c\il ones, who rose amid that limitless ocean of 
vapors which filled the imnn'n^ity of sjiace. 

As yet the human species had no cxi-itcnee ; when Odin, intent upon beautifying 
the univei-se, eri-atcd a man and woman, A^k and Embla, IVom two pieces of wood 
(ash and elm) thrown by the waves upon the beach. These were the first pair, 
and the three Asen endowed them with life, comeliness and intellect. 

The gods themselves inhaliited Asgard, which may be considered as the Scandi- 
n;i\iau Olympus. It contaim'd a number of eitii s and halls, the largest and most 
spl'-ndid of whieh was named (Uadh.'ini, or tin/ inansionof joy, wherein were twelve 
seats for the jirimary deities, besidc's tln' throne occupied by Allfader, the universal 
fatliur. Another edifice ei'ected for tlir godd';sses was Vingolf, the abode of lo\'c 
and frifud-hii>. In Alt'hi-im dwolt tlir luminous elves or fairies, a distinct race 
from the black genii that live und 'r tin- earth. The celestial capital was over- 
spread with the famous ash Ygdrasil, the tallest and most beautiful of all trees, whose 
branches covered the whole earth, and tuwen d above the heavens. To preserve it 
evergreen, it was watered by the Nornor, the t'ates or destinies that distribute to 
man the various events of his life, good or bad. 

Of the deities that inhabited Asganl, the first and greatest was Odin, the Jupi- 
ter and Mars of the North, Allfader, the father of the Asen (or Aser), creator and 
governor of the universe, the god of battles, and the patron of arts and magic. 

ITk daughter Frigga (the earth) became his wife, and mother of the Asen; the 
fivstljorn of whom was Thor, the ;ictive, thcswit't, the strongest and bravest of gods 
and niv'n. lie ])rcsided over the air and the seasons, launched the thunder, and 
guarded mankind from the attacks of giants and e'\-il genii with wli(_im he waged 
perpetual war. 

li^der, the second son of Odin, was the most graceful, eloquent, and amiable of 



If 




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w 



(] 






^ 



all (lir tivids; (.llilnwiil with <\. i-y Li-oml quiililv, pcytical and iiil' !!■ clii:'.!. Xolliilrj; 
could i-qual Ills l"aiil\\ wli'uli s.iiiird to dart tbrtli rays ot' lin'ht; lii^ i'y<'^ shone 
with .a lustru inoR: brilliant than the muriiiiiL; star, and the hair of his eyebrows 
■was coiiipari-d to tho whitcstof all Ti.-^' tables. To liiin bL'ldiu-.'d the jiowr-r of ap- 
pensiiig tonijio?t.s. His wisdom and niilduess gave him authority o\<'V the other 
Asen, and his doerees, when onee parsed were irrc\crsible. ].5ut he seldom ap- 
l^poared in their nsseinblii's. being ueitler nddieted In tli. ir pa-sioiis, iior tbiid nf lln'ir 
warlike ptirsuits. His delight was to livi- ]"'aceably in his palaee of Bnidablik 
^•fwide-shining), whose situation was indicated by tlie bright zotie which during clear 
nights, sliiues in the vault of lu'aven. _ ,• 

The uuinl«r of L;oddesses (A-^vnier) was twelve, and to each were assigned par- 
tietdar functions. Next to Odin in might and fam.' was his eha~te spoiise Frigga, 
the Junii and Ceres of the Scandinavians, wh.j is to rreidve alb-r (f/ath sueli wives 
as have been di>tingui>hed by Ii.Toic tidelitv. She was nv.tli. r i>( !:rtility and 
plenty. Gn.a was the messenger whom she despatcle d o\ • r th^' w.old to peaform 
hir couiniands. Fylla was cntru--te(l with the' custody of lier toil.t, and admitted 
into lie-r most important secrets. Fn'V.-i, tlie ilaUL;'lit>'r of Xi,,r,l. o|'t.-n confounded 
with the wit'.- of <.>din, uas second t<> ln-v oulv in honor and dignity. She was the 
Venus of the North, tli^' parent of all cemnubial enjoymenls, the dispenser of happy 
marriagi's and I'asy partmition. Alximli'iied bv her hiisl)Mnd Oduij she contiiiu- 
allv wi'pt his absence, and her ti-ars wrve drops of j'lu'e gold. ■•• ■ • • •• 

13e>id';s these femai'^ divinitie-, tli a-i' w.a-e twelve V'alkvrii's (choosers of thi' slain), 
nvmi'hs of [laradi^e, wliost- otlice was to pour out mead for tlie brave in N'allialla, 
ami abei to attend ih'-m in l^attle. 

For a time the earth jircsented the image of happiness ; imieicenci' and know- 
ledge reigned univers.allv : and gold became the most couniion of met.ds. In .Vs- 
gard the gods liveil joyfully, pltiying with their g<jlden taltjet^ until the airival of 
the giant maids, whom they married. '11 lat alliance proviil the- root of mi-ehief ; 
avarice and the love of gain, introduced by (iulheiga (the weigln-r ipf gold), spread 
among men ; while th<_' peace of the celestial inhabitants was di-tuibe.l by ill 
omens and tearful jaysages. From the giant brood descended Lciki, the E\il One, 
the artiticer of fraud, who surp.a^sed all created Ijeings in perli.lv and ituniing. F>y 
his wife Aiigerbode (nii-seiiger of wrath) he had three children. 

The heaveidy empire depended on the fate of ISalder. 1 lui-ing his lif ■ it wasso- 
c\ur. His death, liowi'ver, harl been predicted; and lie was at la-t killed bv the 
blind tiod Ib.ider, whose punishment was as terrible ;us his crime. 'Willi eords 
made from the entrails of his own son he w.as bi.nnd to a rock ; .a sc rpent above 
liim dropped poi-on on his face, which his wif Si'_;ii, eolKcted into .1 l.,i-iii, :ind 
emptied as often as it was tilled, ^^'llile the' \eniiiii di-iille.l iipr.n liim.hc howled 
vith horror, and writhed his bi^dv with siieh violence as to pioduee' larthiuake-s. 
lu that dreadful situation lie mu-t reiiiriin until thi: l;agnarok, the hust daA'for gV'iLs 
and men shall approach. i 

Various and terrible I'resagos are to be the harbingers of this final destiny of the 






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\'. oil>l. The axi>-^o, tho storm ng>', the swditI :ig'o, and the wolf-a<T;c,«Bv)ll distress^ 
till! pbiiiis- of thi3. earth. Iiiinuity shall universally prevail; wli^'ii sdns shall Tje 
the AurJoi-ers of-thi^' titln'rs, and brothers stain themselves with brothers' blood. 
Immediately shUll siieeed thieePlong, desolating \vintQj;g, and snow from the four 
Corners of tin' world, pith no summer intervening-. Prodigies more awful will fol- 
low. The great j^'agon rolling himself in the ocean, shall cause fhe land to be 
OVertlowed, and \omit forth into the air torrents of venom. The giants vnW rage, 
the dwai'fe sigh at the dcioi-s of the rocks, wh^^'h will dash against each other, 
wliili; LoUi breaks 'loose and regaifls his freedom. The ash Ygdrasil will craek 
and bind, and all th.' trees bo torn U|i l.v the ro(jts. The w.ilf F.nris, bursting his 
ciiains and oiuMiing his enormous jaws shall d<\our the siui ; then will the stars 
lly from their plaees and all nature reel with honor :ind dis)nay. 
• ' ileantinie, ILjimdall shall wind the Gjaller horn, to rouse the deities to battle. 
Tn vain wilM »din seek adxiec at the well of Miuu-r. Armed for the' stiite, he 
marches his brilliant s.^nadrous to the plain of N'igrid where the combatants on 
both ^ides amiihilate e.ach other. Fenris de^■ours Odin, but perishes at the same in- 
stant by the hand of \'idur. Thor lieats the serpent Midgai'd to tlu' earth, but is 
himself bulliK-ited in the tloo.i of venom which he emits. 'Ileimdall and Loki fall 
in single eondjat, and Tyr is killed by the hound (iarmer. Freyr, having lost his 
sword, meets his death from Snrlur, who winds up the catastrojjhe by setting fire 
to the world, the eonHagration i>f which i^ thus sung by the Vala: 

"Thcsunall I.lacl;sh.all be, 

The e^irth ?iiik in tlie sea. 

And every starry ray. _. ^^^ .■ 

Fnim iieawn fade away, \ •' 

Wliile xajxirs ho* shall tUI 

Tlic air round Ygdrasil, ^ ^ 

And, ftiiniui;' as thuy riso, 9 

Play (owei'iii; tu the shirs." "^ ' * 

But the pro] ihecies of the Northern sili_\ I do not terminate with this scene of 
luiiversal destruction. Sli>' invokes a d.'ity greater than those that liave perished. 
A new heaven and a new earth sli:ill arise out of chaos; and it is promised that 
nnui, in this other world shall live elernally Inajipy or miserable, aeeording to his 
actions. The human race, two ot' whom ar<' to escape the general doonj, shall bo 
restored and nourished bv the dew of the morning. Nor will N'idiu' and Vale, 
sons of (_»din, perish, but li\e in the Ida plain where Asgard stood; the children 
of Thor will sa\e themselves by their mighty hammer; and the danghler of the 
S\ni will again tread the bright path of hi-r mother. Then will ISalder and Iloder 
return from llela, (or Ilidl) and revives the anc-ieid mae'Utiieence of tho gods in the 
saloon of Odin. The celestial regions, where the blessed will i-eside, are Brimer 
and Sindre ; Ijut tlie best of them is Gilme, which isbiiilt of shining sjold." 



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